The Final Chapter
by Model-D
Summary: My take on how the last episode should go.
1. Chapter 1

A/n: Had some time to jot off another story. My take on how the last episode should go. Right now I don't know what's going to ensue between Will and James or Grace and Leo or what's going to happen with her pregnancy. This scenario probably wouldn't happen in reality. Hollywood doesn't produce scripts from non-union writers. Also it is known that the character of Will is based on producer/writer Max Mutchnick and Grace on his best friend Janet. So just suspend belief and enjoy the story for what it's worth. As always, I don't own any rights to Will & Grace or the characters therein. They don't own me either. I am not making any money doing this, and that should please everyone.

Any complimentary reviews welcome. Thanks.

Chapter 1

It's morning on a mid-summer day 1998 in Will's apartment. He comes out of his bedroom dressed for work still knotting his tie and goes to the door and exits. He comes back in a few moments with a newspaper and a handful of mail that he casually tosses on the table. Grace is making breakfast in the kitchenette. Will returns to his bedroom and emerges shortly with his suit jacket over his arm and his briefcase. He drapes the garment over the back of the sofa, places his briefcase on the cushion and sits at the table waiting for Grace to finish cooking. She comes over with a frying pan of scrambled eggs in one hand and a pot of coffee in the other and sits down next to Will. Will extracts the newspaper from the pile on the table and scans the front page. Grace starts scarfing down the food. In a few moments, Jack enters, and as is his custom, glides right over to the table and dives right into the food without waiting to be invited. It's such a routine morning, that nobody has said a word. Jack's eyes fall on the unopened letters and fidgets distractedly through them. He breaks the silence.

"Any mail for me?" he inquires.

"Jack, why would there be anything for you in _my_ mail?" Will exasperatingly asks.

"You never know," Jack teases, batting his eyes.

Will just sighs and returns his attention to the paper.

Grace has finished her morning meal and also glances through the letters. They are mainly bills that she lets Will handle and a few pieces of junk mail, but an unfamiliar letterhead catches her eye.

"What's this? Why would NBC be sending you a letter?" she asks, suddenly interrupting the normal morning activities.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

"WHAT?" Will ejaculates, grabbing the letter out of Grace's hand and staring agape at it.

"Well, are you gonna open it?" Grace questions.

"Umm…yeah…heh, heh," Will replies cautiously as he slides a thumb under the flap and slowly extracts a single sheet. As he scans the letter his eyes widen perceptibly and a smile spreads across his face.

"Well, c'mon, Will. Tell us what it is. Must be good news or there wouldn't be a smile on your big fat face," Jack teases.

"It is good news! I didn't tell you guys, but a few months ago I sent an idea for a television show to the networks. This is the first reply. They're interested. Some network execs are coming here from Los Angeles to discuss it with me," Will explains.

"This is so exciting!" Jack enthuses. "Television producers, imported from California – right here in New York where my footsteps tread on a daily basis!" He muses for a few seconds, then adds, "Is there a part for me in it?"

"You're in it, but you won't be acting," Will cryptically responds.

Four eyebrows shoot up. A pair of hazel and a pair of sky blue eyes stare quizzically at him.

"Okay, Will, what's this about?" Grace demands.

"It's about…us, sweeite. Us and Jack and Karen and about our friends and our relationships," Will explains.

"They want to make a TV show about that?" Grace laughs.

"Yeah, they must be desperate for material if they want to do anything you suggested. But if you need more, I have some scripts all ready and rowdy to go," Jack offers.

"Uh…we'll see," Will says offhandedly.

"When are they coming?" Grace inquires.

Will would rather not let his friends know that piece of information. He wants to meet with the producers alone without the puerile interruptions he would ensue if they knew it, especially from Jack and his insatiable quest for fame in entertainment. Grace was barely any better. "Oh, gee, look at the time," Will said jumping to his feet, still with the letter in his hand. He strides over to the sofa and pops it into his briefcase, quickly dons his jacket and hurries out the door leaving Grace and Jack staring agape after him.

"We gotta find out when they'll be here. Will's gonna blow it if we leave him alone with the execs. He's so boring, they'll be asleep in ten minutes," Jack sneers. "We can help him liven it up a little."

"Let me think about this, Jack. I'll let you know if I find out anything."

The crafty Grace waits until afternoon. She looks up a number and dials. A few seconds later she is saying, "What is the number for the studio in Burbank?" She has called the local NBC station. Grace finally manages to get through to NBC's L.A. studio. She pretends to be Will's secretary.

"Yes, Mr. Truman wanted to acknowledge the receipt of your letter and confirm the time and place of the appointment. Yes…yes…I have it. Thank you very much." She concludes and hangs up, smiling broadly.

Then dials Jack's number and says, "Hi, Jack. Will's meeting is this Thursday at 2 PM, right in his apartment." Then she and Jack can't hold in their mirth any longer and snigger together. This doesn't bode well for Will.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Thursday finally rolls around. Grace waits expectantly for Will to break the news but he is aggravatingly silent. Will pretends to get ready to go to work so as not to tip off Grace. He had already asked for the day off. He goes to the corner café, has a leisurely breakfast and returns to his apartment after he thinks Grace has gone to work. He changes into some casual clothes and starts to vacuum and dust the living room area of the flat, then prepares a plate of appetizers for his expected guests, then glancing at the clock sees it's just enough time to change into something more stylish.

Two o'clock comes and goes as Will impatiently waits. He figures they may be late – their plane could have been delayed or they might have stopped in at the New York office to pay their respects. At 2:20 the doorbell chimes. Will suddenly gets butterflies, but goes to the door and opens it. Three men are standing at the entrance.

"Hello, I'm David Kohan," one of the men says extending his hand. Will shakes it. "This is Max Mutchnick," Mr. Kohan adds indicating the other man who also shakes hands with Will. This is Mr. Lubin our photographer that may want to take some shots of your apartment."

Will was glad that he had cleaned. They sat down. Will offered his guests some refreshments, but they only opted for coffee. It wasn't long before the apartment door flew open and a tall, slender person dressed in a gaudy red kimono, geta sandals, paper fan and a black wig enters. The face is painted white, but Will immediately recognizes Jack who launches into a falsetto song of gibberish as he dances giddily around. Will is embarrassed. He sighs and tried to hide his face in his hands – it's just the thing he tried to prevent from happening. Jack doesn't look like he's going to wind down anytime soon, so Will jumps up and pushes Jack toward the door. They have a few clipped, emotional words just before Will shoves Jack out in the hallway, closes and locks the door.

"Sorry about that, gentlemen. I'm positive 'Miss Saigon' won't interrupt us again."

"Who _was_ that?" Mr. Mutchnick queries.

"Jack," Will blurted.

"Jack…the same Jack in your script?"

"Yeah…the same," Will laments. "You'll have to forgive him, he's rather stage struck."

The two execs exchange glances. Rather than being miffed at the interruption, they are trying desperately to keep in their laughter.

The photographer starts taking photos of the apartment when suddenly Grace emerges from her bedroom dressed in a slinky gown. She leans seductively against the wall, then glides over to the sofa and insinuates herself between the two guests, babbling constantly in an effort to make small talk between gobbling down the appetizers.

"Grace! What are you doing here?" Will harshly whispers.

"Wiiillll…dahling," Grace affectedly lisps. "I didn't know we had company," She says batting her eyes at the producers.

"Lordy, lordy! What's going on here," a shrill voice resounds from the bathroom as Karen staggers out into the living room, blinking at the bright flashbulbs of the photographer. "Am I being booked again?" She lurches towards the coffee table and takes a big gulp from one of the mugs, but quickly sprays it out. "My god, that tastes like coffee. Where's the Smirnoff?"

Will has almost totally lost it by now. "All right! That's e-nough!" he barks taking Karen by the elbow and leading her to the door. "Go back to the manse, go over to Jack's, go to the corner bar, but get away from here!" He opens the door to let Karen out, but Jack is still standing there. He's changed into a tux and top hat and pushes his way back into Will's apartment. He launches into the "Wilkommen" number from _Cabaret_. Things are spiraling out of control. The photographer is getting it all on film.

"STOP!" Will roars and six heads snap in his direction as a deathly silence descends on the room. "What the hell do you all think you're doing?"

"I think we've seen enough, Mr. Truman," Kohan says standing and making his way to the door followed closely by Mutchnick and the photographer.

"Wait, gentlemen. Don't you want to hear any more of my ideas for the show?"

"We'll call you, Mr. Truman," Mutchnick says as the door closes behind the visitors.

Will just stares blankly for a few seconds. He whirls around and looks malevolently at his three friends. He is too angry at them to even yell. He just makes a little choking sound and runs to his bedroom, slamming the door behind him. Grace, Jack and Karen look dejectedly at the floor.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Friday and the weekend come and go, Will is still enraged at the conduct of his friends, He hasn't spoken to them since the interview debacle. They are all feeling extremely sorry for their behavior. It could have ruined Will's chances with the Hollywood execs. Even more importantly, ruined it for them not to see themselves portrayed in a TV program. It's late Monday afternoon. Grace and Will are sitting in silence at the supper table when the phone rings. Will shuffles over.

"Hello," he says morosely.

"Hello, Mr. Truman. David Kohan," a voice says. "I wanted to tell you that we're still very interested in your story. We'd like to start production as soon as possible so we can add it to the fall schedule. Do you think you and your remarkable friends could fly out here next week so we can get some further insight into your characters?"

Will is stunned. He never thought he'd be hearing from NBC again. He just stammers, "Uh, uh…yeah."

"Fine. Of course it will be at our expense. We'll be sending you four round trip airline tickets. See you next week, then?" Kohan concludes.

"Uh…yes, yes. That'll be fine. Goodbye and thank you," Will hangs up and stands pensively a few moments. The let's out a whoop and pumps his arms so vigorously that it startles Grace. She jumps up from the dinner table, not knowing what to expect next. Will runs over and hugs her vigorously, spinning her around and around.

"Well, that was a change of mood," she gasps breathlessly as Will starts to settle down.

Will, still also breathing heavily from the excitement starts to explain, "They still want to do the show! We're all flying to L.A. next week, expenses paid, so they can get a handle on us!"

Grace squeals with delight and they hug again. "Let's tell Jack and Karen. I'll call Karen," she says as she reaches for the phone. Will heads towards Jack's apartment.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The gang arrives in L.A. and taken by limo to the KoMut Entertainment Office where they are expected, and escorted inside. Once there, the producers greet them warmly and introduce them to four other people.

"We had extensive try-outs for your roles and have settled on these actors for the show."

Will and his friends gape at the actors. None of them were very well-known as yet, but the resemblances were uncanny. It looked like an identical twins convention happening in the office. They all shook hands with one another as Mr. Mutchnick introduced them. "Will Truman, this is Eric McCormack. Grace Adler…Debra Messing…Karen Walker, meet Megan Mullally. Jack…Jack."

Jack has noticed himself in a nearby mirror and is primping in front of it, not paying any attention to what's going on. Will goes over to him and steers his friend back to the group.

Mutchnick continues, "Mr. McFarland, this is Sean Hayes, who will be portraying you on the show.

"Well…hello, handsome!" Jack purrs as he shakes Sean's hand. Sean is a little startled, but smiles.

"I'd like them to work with you a day or two – observe you and get to know your mannerisms before we start filming. I think they have their work cut out for them," Kohan offers.

An interesting time follows as the actors observe, sometimes disbelievingly, their counterparts and their relationship dynamics. They work at miming the others and read and re-read and rehearse the pilot script, making any changes needed. Megan is trying very hard to get Karen's voice just right. Sean has to work at mimicking Jack's walking style and hand movements. Debra wonders where Grace's gets her frenetic energy. Eric must develop the rapid speech pattern of Will. The fab four sometime even make suggestions - almost in the capacity of acting coaches and watch with rapt interest as director James Burrows gradually molds the cast into a group with real chemistry. They continue to be amazed, especially at the set constructed to look like Will's apartment and the 9th floor of 155 Riverside Drive from the photos taken. Grace's studio was done from drawings she provided. Finally, the evening for the first taping arrives. A studio audience assembles at Stage 17…

ANNOUNCER: From Stage 17 in Studio City, California... In 5, 4, 3, 2, 1... WILL & GRACE THEME PLAYS. THE STUDIO LIGHTS COME UP. ERIC (AS WILL) IS ON THE SET WATCHING TV AND TALKING TO GRACE ON THE PHONE)

WILL: What are you doing?

GRACE: Hanging out.

WILL: Come over.

GRACE: Will, I can't.

WILL: Come on, Grace. You know you want to.

GRACE: Of course I want to, but--

WILL: It's going to be a good one. I can feel it.

GRACE: It's always good. Still--

WILL: You're not going to come over, you want me to, uh... talk you through it?

GRACE: It's tempting, but I think I'll watch _ER_ here.

WILL: Another night alone with my clicker.

THE AUDIENCELAUGHS UPROARIOUSLY. THE GANG STANDING OFFSTAGE SMILING BROADLY PUTS THEIR ARMS AROUND ONE ANOTHER AND EMBRACE…THE REST IS HISTORY…


End file.
